Rubber Chickens, Mission Control, and NASA TV!

On Monday I hosted Camilla.  Camilla is a rubber chicken from the Solar Dynamics Observatory.  She is kind of like a Flat Stanley, she is passed around different space centers and learns about a day in the life of NASA employees.  I was fortunate enough to take her around for a day. Check out her blog to find out more!

http://camilla-corona-sdo.blogspot.com/2010/10/nasa-jsc-being-intern-is-king.html

This morning I also got to train with Flight Director Ed Van Cise.  To put it simply, it was amazing.  I got to sit in Mission Control and plug my headset into the flight director loop and be a part of everything going on.  I'll go into more detail later, but here are a couple pics!



The last pic is a screen shot from NASA TV! Poor quality, but I was just excited to be on TV! I'm the only one wearing red, so I should be easy to spot!

NBL, Ellington Field, Mission Control, Astronauts, & Cake!

Well I haven't been blogging as frequently as I want to, but for good reason.  I have been incredibly busy!  Since I last wrote, I have been on a tour of the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL), taken a few more training courses, took a tour of Ellington Field, sat in on my first on the job training in mission control, and attended the end-of-training cake cutting ceremony for the STS-133 space shuttle astronauts.

The tour of the NBL was incredible.  The NBL is a massive pool where the astronauts train for extra vehicular activity (floating around in their spacesuit).  The pool is 40 feet deep and roughly 200x100 foot in area.  The pool contains full size mock ups of the space shuttle cargo bay, flight payloads, and the International Space Station.  We were given an all access tour of the facility and we were walking around the edge of the pool during real mission simulations.  While we were there astronaut, Alvin Drew, Jr. was simulating a space walk for the upcoming shuttle flight in November.

The above picture is a view of the giant pool, while the picture below is astronaut, Alvin Drew, Jr. being removed from the water after a 4 hour simulation.

What's next?  Oh yes, more training courses.  The next two classes I took were on the Waste & Hygiene Compartment.  That's right, the space toilet.  The first class was about the plumbing and how it works, and the second class was about how to use it.  I'll spare you the details on that, but it is pretty easy to guess how it works.  Here's a picture of it.

Our group of people in charge of the maintenance and crew training for the toilet have a pretty cool patch.  Here it is.

This past week we went on another amazing tour.  Our second tour was of Ellington Field, where they house the T-38 Talons and Shuttle Training Aircraft.  The T-38s are used as jet trainers for NASA astronauts, chase planes, and enable the astronauts to travel between Johnson Space Center in Houton, TX and Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL very quickly.

We also saw the Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) which is a training vehicle that duplicates the Space Shuttle's approach profile and handling qualities

Here's me sitting in the pilot seat!

Both of the tours were really incredible!

Another first for me occurred this past Friday.  I sat in on my first OJT in mission control during a functionality test of the Common Attach System which is basically a big claw on the truss of the space station that is used to latch onto external payloads and science experiments.  I was sitting in the "back" room for the Operations Support Officer during the test.  I got to use my headset for the first time and was able to plug into the live voice loops, including the space-to-ground loop that the astronauts talk on!  Someone secretly snapped a picture of me in the support room sporting my headset.

Last but not least, today I was able to attend the cake cutting ceremony celebrating the end of training for the STS-133 shuttle crew launching on November 1.

Here is a photo of the entire crew at the ceremony.

Oh, by the way, the cake was delicious!

After the ceremony the astronauts stuck around and I was lucky enough to chat with them for about 10 minutes.  They are all really kind and down-to-Earth people (pun intended).  I was even able to get a photo with the commander, Steve Lindsey.  This is going to be his 5th spaceflight.

I'll do a better job posting more often in the future so I can go into greater detail.  If you guys have any questions I'd love to answer them!  Just leave a comment!

On-Orbit Maintenance Classes

Well the past few days at work have been pretty incredible.  I STILL don't have computer access (tell me this isn't a government operation) so I have been totally immersed in OOM (On Orbit Maintenance) Lessons.  These are the astronaut lessons I mentioned earlier.  My very first class was on the Common Attach System (CAS).  Basically, the CAS is a big mechanical claw that grabs incoming external payload that will reside on the truss of the space station.  These payloads can be simply storage, or experiments that require exposure to the vacuum of space.  The CAS also has a powered "plug" that supplies thermal control, electrical power, and data transfer ability.

My next course was about the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM).  Every time they send up a new module to the space station, they use the CBM to automatically attach the new "room."  This way, the astronauts don't have to do a space walk and attach the node by hand.  Basically it is 16 powered bolt assemblies (big bolts that automatically screw themselves in), 8 alignment pins (4 coarse and 4 fine), 4 capture latches (powered latches that reach out, grab the incoming module, retract, and lock), and finally 4 controller panel assemblies (they power and drive the powered bolts and latches).  We also went into the sequencing, nominal operations, and redundancies of the system, but I'll spare you those tedious details.  Here's a photo of the CBM.

After a successful mating of the two nodes, the astronauts pressurize the new module, remove the CBM hardware, and enjoy the new room on the space station.

These first two classes were mainly mechanisms and maintenance, not really any hands on work.  My next two classes, however, were very hands on.

I stayed late an hour and a half this past Thursday to take the Leak Repair Skills course.  This class is pretty much exactly like it sounds.  If a pressure seal of any kind wears out, or worst case scenario, there is a micro meteorite strike and the pressure within the space station begins to leak out into the vacuum of space, you are going to want to have taken this course.  There are three procedures the astronauts have to repair the leaks.  The first way to repair leaks are basically fancy suction cups.  There are different shapes and sizes of cups on board the station that are to be placed over the leak and secured.  Pretty simple, right? Well, you're right.  The next method is a non-toxic epoxy specially made for use in space.  It doesn't give off any fumes and is non-flammable.  Finally, there is a putty substance that can be molded into a leak by hand.

This is the vestibule operations trainer (VOT).  This is the mock up in building 9 where we practiced our leak repair skills.  In the following picture, you can see where it is in relation to the other mock ups.

The next photo is a high fidelity replica of a space station window.  This was also used in the leak repair class.

My most recent class was today and it was all about the Maintenance Work Area (MWA).  The MWA is basically a work bench for the space station that mounts right to the wall.  It also comes with a containment system to catch particles or fumes from soldering, drilling, filing, etc.  Basically anything they don't want the astronauts to inhale.  In the class today, we were taught how to install, uninstall, and store the MWA.  We also learned about all the components and hardware that comes with it.  We each had to successfully unpack, install to the wall, or rack, attach the mounting components, then remove and re-pack the entire mechanism.

Here is the "space bag" that all the mounting and grounding hardware is stored in.

Here is the MWA work surface all installed and deployed, however, none of the mounting or containment hardware on it yet.

This is what the MWA work surface looks like when it is uninstalled and folded up for storage when not in use.  It reminds me of R2-D2. 

Here is the work surface with all the bells and whistles.  This picture shows all the mounting hardware and containment system.

Here is a view of the Payload Development Lab 2.  This is the mock up where the class took place.  Note the life size model of the Robo-naut at the back of the lab.

This view is from the back of the lab (standing by the Robo-naut) looking towards the hatch.

Well that's 4 classes down, only about 20 to go!  I'll leave you with a close up of the Robo-naut model flashing his gang hand-sign.

First 3 Days

These past three days have been incredibly exciting.  Where do I start?  We'll go with the beginning!  I have been applying to various NASA programs since I started at Mizzou in the fall of 2007.  This past summer I was interning at Leggett & Platt in Carthage, MO and had pretty much resigned to the fact that NASA had all their student employees lined up for the rest of the year.  I had already enrolled in all my classes for the fall semester of my senior year of college and was starting to think about moving back to Columbia.

Well it was late July and I was at work checking my email and noticed that there was an email from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  I read it immediately and was thrilled to find I had a phone interview for the Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP).  As a side note, this blog will have lots of acronyms, it's NASA after all!  But as I was saying, I was basically stunned and couldn't wait for the interview.

The interview finally came on the morning of July 26th.  I was still working at Leggett & Platt so I had to duck into a conference room to do the interview.  The interview was an average length for a phone interview, about half an hour.  At the end they said they would have their decisions made by the end of the week.  The interview was on a Monday so I was afraid I would have to wait all week to find out.  That would have made for a long week.  Well my fears were eased because I received an email that same day telling me I got the job!

Now you'll find out a little about how NASA is organized.  NASA has 12 centers across the country and I am located at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.  At each of these centers, there are various groups called directorates.  The directorate I work in is Mission Operations Directorate (MOD).  Within each directorate there are divisions and my division is called DX which is EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity), Robotics and Crew Operations Division.  They work specifically for the International Space Station.  Within that my group is DX42 OSO/RAM.  OSO is Operations Support Officer which is a flight controller position (one of the guys who sit in mission control at the computer console during missions...just like in the movie Apollo 13) and RAM is Repair And Maintenance.  Basically RAM is training and simulations pre-launch and OSO is in charge of procedures and operations during the actual flight.

Let me summarize.

Johnson Space Center > Mission Operations > EVA, Robotics, and Crew Operations > DX43 OSO/RAM > Mechanisms and Maintenance

Understand?  Don't worry if you don't.  I've been a NASA nerd for as long as I can remember and it took me a couple days to figure it out.  Oh and I warned you there would be tons of acronyms...and I haven't even told you what I'm working on yet! 

Fast forward to Monday, August 30th, my first day on the job.  The first thing I have to do when I arrive on site at JSC is report to the badge office in building 110.  They give me my temp badge (I get my real one Friday) and then I go through the security gate.  Nobody gets on site without a badge!  Then I go to building 20 for orientation.  I'll save you from the boredom.  Even though it's NASA, orientation is still lame.  In short, the pat us on the back, tell us about the parking/driving rules, security, sexual harassment, equal opportunity, politics, etc.  Believe it or not that lasts until noon, at which point they take us to lunch at Fuddruckers.  Yep, NASA loves Fuddruckers.

When I get back from lunch I finally get to go meet my boss and get to know the buildings I'll be working in.  I get to my building and I meet my boss, Phil, I instantly find out he's a great guy.  He shows me my desk...take a look!

 Since I don't have computer access on the first day, he takes me to three awesome buildings that I'll be spending a lot of time in and shows me around.  The first place we go is SSTF the Space Station Training Facility where they test the software on the space station and train the astronauts to deal with possible critical situations, sorry no pictures right now, but I will have them later.

After that we go to building 9 which is the Mock up facility where they test the hardware and astronauts get a feel for how everything is laid out.

I'll be taking a lot of training classes in here that astronauts take as well.  Why you ask?  Well our office is responsible for training procedures and in flight maintenance so we better know what the astronauts have to do before and during the mission and how to do it.  So we learn too.  I'll be in 3 of these classes tomorrow.

The last place we visited was the one and only Mission Control Center, building 30!  There are four FCRs (pronounced ficker) or Flight Control Rooms.  FCR 1 is the space shuttle control room, FCR red is the ISS training/simulation control room, and FCR white is the real ISS control room which has been continuously staffed 24/7 for the past 10 years.  Why?  Because there have been astronauts on the space stations continuously since the year 2000.  I couldn't really explore those rooms just yet because they were all in use either for simulations or real time operations.

Did you notice I only listed 3 of the 4 FCRs I mentioned?  Well the fourth one is the historic Apollo mission control room.  That was the one they let me play around in!

I was instantly attracted to this particular console.

We spent most of the afternoon in these three buildings.  The last thing we did before we headed back to our building was stop by the supply room where I received my very own head set that I get to use during my time in Mission Control.

Day 2...in short, another morning of orientation, then an afternoon of meetings and brief introduction to my projects.

Day 3 (Today).  Luckily no more orientations.  A bonus about the program I'm working in is awesome tours and lectures.  This morning we were lucky enough to have an informal lecture/Q&A with the executive manager of the entire International Space Station, Mike Suffredini.  He shared his opinions and outlook for the space station, the changing priorities of NASA, and goals for the future of the program.

I haven't really touched yet on what exactly I'm doing.  Since this is becoming epically long, I will sum it up pretty simply.  I'm going to develop a quick reference for the OSO flight controller (remember, that's the person sitting in mission control) to use to communicate with the flight director.  It is a reference for the new PMM or Permanent Multi-purpose Module they are sending up to the space station on the shuttle flight scheduled for Nov. 1st.

I'm also responsible for creating a Jumbo Training Schematic (about the size of a bedroom wall) for the WHC on the space station.  The WHC is the Waste & Hygiene Compartment...that's right, the toilet and shower.  That means I have to take all the training lessons on how it works and how to use it (the same training the astronauts receive).

Finally, I have to develop a malfunction procedure for the PWD or Portable Water Dispenser.

The rest of my time will be taking all those training classes and doing OJT (on the job training) in the mission control room and support rooms during simulations and real time operations/missions.  It's going to be an amazing 15 weeks!

- Colin